Filter press



Oct. 20, 1964 D. F. GREEN 3,153,630

FILTER PRESS Filed May 29, 1961 I 11 H 3 INVENTOR.

DONALD F 965 mm M W United States Patent Ofiice 3,1535% ?atenteol Get. 20, 1964 3,153,639 FHLTER PRESS Donald F. Green, 15 E. 75th St, New York, NY. rues May 29, 1961, S91. No. 113,317 Qlaims. (Cl. 2ltl-23tl) The present invention relates to an automatic system for sequentially separating individual elements from each other in a group or stack of elements.

While the system may find application in any apparatus where it is desired to separate, and move together again, adjacent elements in a stack of elements, it will be partcularly described in connecton with filter presses where it is very useful.

Filter presses, such as mash filters for breweries, comprise a plurality of horizontally adjacent alternating filter plates and frames, which for purposes of cleaning and general maintenance, have to be moved apart from time to time.

It is the general object of the present invention to facilitate and automate the assembly and separation of adjacent elements, such as filter elements, and thus to accomplish this result with a minimum of time and effort.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide automatic means for laterally moving each plate and frame of a filter press one at a time whereby the length of the pres may be considerably reduced because of the smaller space required between the frames and the plates of the press for cleaning the filter cloth and removing the cake.

Conventional filter presses comprise a plurality of alternating frames for the filter cloths and plates which are assembled into a filtering unit between suitable pressure means. After filtration, when the cake is to be removed or for other purposes or maintenance or repair, the plates must be separated from the frames and conventionally this has usually been done by moving all plates and frames apart simultaneously, which means that the press must be long enough to accommodate the spaced elements.

In accordance with the present invention, a cam-operated linkage system is connected to a group of adjacent elements and progressive movement of the cam means causes sequential movement of each element in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of the cam means whereby each element is first moved apart from its next adjacent element and further movement of the cam means moves the next adjacent element into contact again with the'previously moved element.

In principle, the moving mechanism for the elements comprises a link chain consisting of a plurality of rigid links, each lnk being pivotally connected at one of its ends to a respective one of the elements to be moved and at its other end to the next adjacent link, and an end link being pivotally connected at one of its ends to a fixed element adjacent an end element to be moved and at its other end to the next adjacent link; and a cam means movable along the link chain and having a camming surface arranged to move the other ends of the rigid links toward the plane of the one ends.

In a preferred embodiment, all pivots at the one ends lie in a single plane and all pivots at the other ends lie in another single plane parallel thereto, the links being of equal length. The camming surface consists of two like arcuate portions, each ascending from a low point to a single apex at the center of the camming surface.

It will be advantageous to mount cam followers, such as rollers, at the pivots at the other ends of the links,

when considered in connection with the following detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic side View of a mash filter press incorporating the moving mechanism of this invention; and

FIG. 2 is a similar fragmentary side view showing the first element moved from the next adjacent element.

The drawing shows every feature of the invention specifield in the claims and as much only of the old structure of a conventional mash filter pres as will suffice to show the connection of the moving mechanism therewith.

Referring now to the drawing, the generally known structure of the frame and plate filter press, to which the invention is shown to be applied, comprises a fixed element or head 1 at one end of the press and a movable head 2 at its other end. Extending longitudinally of these two end elements of the press are a pair of spaced side beams 3 between which are supported the laterally stacked alternating filter frames and plates 4 and 5, respectively. The alternating filter plates and frames form adjacent elements to be moved apart sequentially.

Each filter element is slidingly supported in side beams 3 by 'means of horizontal pivot pins 6 extending laterally from each element and engaging a longitudinal slot 7 in each side beam, all pivots 6 being thus in a single plane.

Since the hydraulic or screw pressure means assocaited with the movable head for closing the filter elements together in leak-tight relation and the general construction and functioning of the filter frames and plates are conventional, they have been indicated only schematically on the drawing, the invention being concerned only with the mechanims for moving the filter elements along the side beams of the press.

As shown, this moving mechanism for the adjacent elements 4, 5 includes a link chain consisting of a plurality of rigid links 8, each one of which has one end pivotally connected to a rsepective one of pivot pins 6, and an end link 8', the one end of which is pivotally connected to a pivot pin 6 whch laterally projects from fixed head 1 of the press or any other fixed element thereof, all pivot pins 6 and 6 being in a single plane. The other ends of the rigid links 3 and 8 are pivotally interconnected by pins 9 which carry cam followers illustrated as rollers 10.

The links are of equal length and, in a rest position wherein all elements are in contact with each other, the

pivots 9 are all in a single plane parallel to the plane of pivots 6 and 6'.

The cam means, which is arranged to move the other ends of the chain links toward'the side beam and thus to move the attached elements, is shown mounted on a wheeled carriage 11, the wheels 12 of which may move along a track 13 in either direction of the chain. The camming surface of the cam means is shown to consist of like arcuate portions 14, 14, each ascending from a low point to a center apex 15. v

The carriage 11 may be power-driven or moved manually. Also, it will be advantageous to duplicate the illustrated mechanism on the other side of the press so that the relatively heavy elements may be moved by symmetrical engagement of both sides of each element. In the latter case, the tWo cam carriages may be interconnected for a simultaneous and synchronous movement along their respective tracks. I e

The operation of the moving mechanism will be selfevident from the above description and an inspection of FIG. 2 which illustrates the first element separated from the. adjacent element. 7

When the camming means is driven leftwards, as viewed in the drawing, the cam follower it between the first and second links of the chain will be forced upwardly toward side beam 3 along the arcuate camming surface areaeso portion 14. Since the other ends of these links are fixed, respectively, to the first element 4 and the adjacent element 5, the element 5 being held in its position by the succeeding filter elements, this movement of the cam follower along the upwardly curving camming surface will simultaneously move the first link in a clockwise direction and the second link in a counter-clockwise direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the clockwise movement of the first link will push the first element 4 toward the right, as seen in the drawing, thus separating it from the adjacent element 5.

During this movement, a compressive force will be set up on both moving links, the horizontal force at the upper part of the first link, which pushes the first element to the right, bein counterbalanced by the reaction of all the elements to the left. This horizontal force is transmitted to the moving element through pivot pin 6, thus pushing it until it reaches the stop 2 at the end of the press. At this point, the cam follower it? is at the apex 5 of the cam surface.

When it is desired to move the next element 5 towards the right and into contact with the first moved element 4, the carriage 1.1 is advanced again towards the left to lift the next cam follower ill, thus moving the next element in the same fashion as the first element while the first cam follower moves down the slope of camming surface portion 14. The next element will stop when it contacts the first element and this procedure may be continued continuously or intermittently until all elements have been first separated and then moved together again. After the cam means has reached the left end of the press and all the elements have been moved toward the right, they may simply be rearranged in their original position, as shown in FIG. 1, by moving the carriage towards the right into the initial position shown in PEG. 1.

If desired, two or more adjacent elements may be interconnected by flexible connections (not shown) to move a plurality of elements simultaneously. Such connections may be chains, for instance, which may be attached and detached at will.

It will be obvious to the skilled in the art to choose the length of the chain links and the curvature of the cam means in accordance with the desired length of the path of the elements to be moved.

While the invention has been described in connection with an industrial filter press, it will be obvious that the moving mechanism may be useful in all instances where it is desired to separate a group of adjacent elements from each other and to move them together again, whether in a horizontal or a vertical direction.

The moving mechanism of the invention makes it possi- .ble rapidly and efficiently to separate and assemble a group of adjacent elements, such as filter frames and plates, a minimum of time and elfort being expended in the operation.

Filter presses incorporating this filter element moving mechanism may be much shorter than conventional presses with the same number of filter elements because of the smaller space required between two frames and plates separated for cleaning purposes, rather than all the frames and plates being simultaneously separated, as heretofore. With the moving mechanism of the present invention, the end pressure against the group of filter elements is released after the material is filtered, as heretofore, but now each pair of adjacent filter elements is separated sequentially, the cake being removed from the space of the frame, and subsequently the next pair is separated. If all the elements were moved apart simultaneously, as heretofore, the press would have to be long enough to accommodate not only all the filter elements but also to allow for the spaces between them when the cakes are to be removed and the filter cloths cleaned. In contrast to this, the length of a filter press incorporating the present moving mechanism needs only be that of the closed filter press, wherein all filter elements are in contact, plus the space required between two separated elements. This results in considerable economies in the construction of the press as well as in required floor space.

While the invention has been described in connection with one preferred embodiment, it will be clearly understood that many modifications and variations may occur to the skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A filter press comprising two horizontally spaced heads, one of said heads being fixed, two side beams extending between said heads and each side beam defining a longitudinally extending slot, a group of alternating filter frames and plates slidably mounted on said side beams, a pair of pivot pins laterally projecting from each of said frames and plates, one pivot pin of each pair engaging the longitudinally extending slot defined by one of said side beams and the other pivot pin of each pair engaging the longitudinally extending slot defined by the other one of said side beams for slidably supporting the frames and plates on the side beams, and a mechanism for sequentially moving adjacent ones of said frames and plates apart, said moving mechanism including a link chain consisting of a plurality of rigid links of substantially equal length, each rigid link being pivotally connected at one of its ends to a respective one of said pivot pins and at the other end to the next adjacent link, the other link ends extending in a line parallel to said slot when the filter frames and plates are adjacent to each other, a pivot pin also being mounted on the fixed head and the last one of said links having its one end connected thereto, and a cam means movable along the link chain and having a camming surface extending in the direction of the link chain and ascending from a low point positioned in said line to an apex spaced from said side cam, said camming surface engaging a respective one of said other link ends, when moved into contact therewith, and forcing the engaged link end upwardly along the camming surface towards the apex and the side beam.

2. The filter press of claim 1, wherein the camming surface has two like arcuate portions, each camming surface portion ascending from a respective one of said low points to said apex at the center of the camming surface.

3. The filter press of claim 1, further comprising a wheeled carriage mounting the camming surface and a track arranged to extend along the link chain for moving the wheeled carriage thereon.

4. The filter press of claim 1, further comprising cam followers mounted at said other ends where the links are pivotally connected.

5. The filter press of claim 4, wherein said cam followers are rollers.

References fitted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 2, 1946 

1. A FILTER PRESS COMPRISING TWO HORIZONTALLY SPACED HEADS, ONE OF SAID HEADS BEING FIXED, TWO SIDE BEAMS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID HEADS AND EACH SIDE BEAM DEFINING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOT, A GROP OF ALTERNATING FILTER FRAMES AND PLATES SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SIDE BEAMS, A PAIR OF PIVOT PINS LATERLLY PROJECTING FROM EACH OF SAID FRAMES AND PLATES, ONE PIVOT PIN OF EACH PAIR ENGAGING THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOT DEFINED BY ONE OF SAID SIDE BEAMS AND THE OTHER PIVOT PIN OF EACH PAIR ENGAGING THE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOT DEFINED BY THE OTHER ONE OF SAID SIDE BEAMS FOR SLIDABLY SUPPORTING THE FRAMES AND PLATES ON THE SIDE BEAMS, AND A MECHANISM FOR SEQUENTIALLY NMOIVING ADJACENT ONES OF SAID FRAMES AND PLATES APART, SAID MOVING MECHANSM INCLUDING A LINK CHAIN CONSISTING OF A PLURLAITY OF RIGID LINKS OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL LENGTH, EACH RIGID LINK BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS TO A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID PIVOT PINS AND AT THE OTHER END TO THE NEXT ADJACENT LINK, THE OTHER LINK ENDS EXTENDING IN A LINE PARALLEL TO SAID SLOT WHEN THE FILTER FRAMES AND LATES ARE ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER, A PIVOT PIN ALSO BEING MOUNTED ON THE FIXED HEAD AND THE LAST ONE OF SAID LINKS HAVING ITS ONE END CONNECTED THERETO, AND A CAM MEANS MOVABLE ALONG THE LINK CHAIN AND HAVING A CAMMING SURFACE EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LINK DHAIN AND ASCENDING FROM A LOW POINT POSITIONED IN SAID LINE TO AN APEX SPACED FROM SAID SIDE BEAM, SAID CAMMING SURFACE ENGAGING A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID OTHER LINK ENDS, WHEN MOVED INTO CONTACT THEREWITH, AND FORCING THE ENGAGED LINK END UPWARDLY ALONG THE CAMMING SURFACE TOWARDS THE APEX AND THE SIDE BEAM. 